Funding approval for seven CECR Centres heads to Treasury Board

Negotiated agreements with the seven Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR) are going to Treasury Board for final funding sign-off, paving the way for their launch early in 2008. The last Budget allocated $105 million to the Centres and while there is an expectation that the federal funding will be matched from other sources, it is not formally required.

The Centres were chosen by the government to illustrate the types of projects that the government would like to see in the competitive portion of the CECR program. Last month, an initial group of 110 applicants was whittled down to 24 that will compete for $195 million over two years (R$, October 10/07).

Industry Canada is handling negotiations with the original seven Centres, while the Networks of Centres of Excellence (NCE) secretariat is handling the competitive component. Once the original seven are up and running and the other centres have been selected, it's likely all the Centres will be consolidated under the NCE, which has a long track record of successfully managing research centres.

The selection process for the seven Centres is significant since four focus on some aspect of neuroscience research — the Brain Research Centre in Vancouver, the Montreal Neurological Institute, the Heart and Stroke Foundation Centre for Stroke Recovery (Ottawa and Toronto) and the Life Sciences Research Institute (LSRI) in Halifax (lead tenant, Brain Repair Centre).

The other Centres are the National Optics Institute in Quebec City, the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute in Toronto and the Canada School of Energy and the Environment in Calgary, Edmonton and Lethbridge.

Of all the Centres, the Li Ka Shing has the most committed non-federal funding. Hong Kong industrialist Li Ka Shing has donated $25 million while the Ontario government is investing $23 million and St Michael's Hospital is committing $71 million through its foundation and operating budget.

The LSRI will be housed in a new $142-million building, with construction slated to begin next winter.

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